Cuenca Day 2

The next day I wanted to rent a bike to explore more (aka find the skatepark) but since it was a Saturday everything was taken. I decided to walk then, Google maps said it was around 40 min not too too bad.

I screenshotted the map and headed out. On the way I actually stumbled upon the archeological museum that we passed on the bus tour (I had made a note I wanted to go there)! I walk inside and it's a beautiful well-done museum that is free!!!

16th century foundations with a model house in the back!

A giant oven made it more efficient for artisans to make goods

Me having taken a class on museum curation from my archaeology professor, well I was just about as stoked as could be. I had a guard stop me from taking photos when I was photographing the accession number systems and the non invasive ways of displaying and tagging lol.

After the museum I walked over to the skatepark. I dunno who designed the park, but over half the quarter pipes have like 2 feet of vert, so unless you are pro, good luck airing out and using them haha. Interesting...I was hoping to find some riders there to try out the park but no luck..oh well

Later that day Brad and I had made plans to go paragliding. Holy shit was it fun. Maybe slightly less adrenaline than the bridge jumping, but almost as much with beautiful views and staying in the sky for 15-20 minutes!!!

View of the town we flew over, about 45 minutes outside of Cuenca

Looking the other way towards where we were going to launch. We had to wait about 45 minutes for the wind to slow down just 3 k/ph

Filling the chutes to get them in place

Up in the air!!!

This was where the adrenaline was at. Getting sideways and getting slung faster and faster!

On the bus back, I happened to notice a kid next to us looking at photos on his phone of some paragliders. I thought for a second and realized it was us...who else?! We tapped him on the shoulder and were able to get his photos through Bluetooth, how cool!!!

Máncora

After a little bit of a hassle getting out of Cuenca due to limited buses and space, I finally was able to catch the night bus to Máncora, Peru, about a 7 hour ride not bad (I think this trip has made me immune to driving to LA from San Francisco now, which used to be the longest drive ever haha).

I arrive to the little beach town nice and early and take a tut tut to my hostel down a nice and bumpy dirt road..here's the frontfront of my hostel and the beach is about 20 meters behind me

After chilling in a hammock for a while I walk down the beach (first time touching sand since the beginning of Colombia, feels so long ago) to town, about a 15-20 minute walk.

While in town I get a nice breakfast, buy my ticket to Lima (I have learned to do this over 24 hours in advance now) and when heading back I come across the guy (Vicente de España) who I sat next to on the bus. He is just there for the day because he forgot his phone the day before, so he comes back with me to the hostel to hang out.

We spent the day drinking beer, playing pool on a table with the smallest pockets I have seen (every pool table I have come across is different and janky in its own way, but makes it more interesting), swimming in the ocean, eating good food, and meeting new people.

I have always wanted to do yoga on the beach and there was a place on the beach that had classes, but they weren't on the beach so I ended up downloading an app that has ton of different sessions with music, voice guidance, and videos!

The next day I had a beautiful (and sandy) class on the beach which was so peaceful and relaxing! Afterwards, I swam in the ocean for bit and then headed back to the hostel where I chilled in the hammocks for a bit more. I spent the day relaxing and hanging out, going into town for a delicious ceviche lunch and then got on the bus for the 20 hour trip to Lima.

Ceviche with some type of fish and black shells. So good

The town of Máncora

Customized tut tut

The sun is setting and my bus is on the way

Cuenca Day 1

After a couple days in Baños, it was off to Cuenca with Brad, one of my travel buddies who is from Minnesota.

We take the early morning bus and arrived in Cuenca mid day, where we check into our hostel and then chill for a bit.

The next day we take a bus tour of the city to but only cover ground, but to get situated with where we are and the layout of the city. Cuenca is absolutely beautiful with tons of colonial architecture and even some archeological sites in the middle of town!

Me and Brad at the vista point

The broken bridge

Pumapongo archeological site

Some typical housing with cattle having a drink

Pedestrian bridge

Fresh fruit!

Urban parrots!

The main cathedral from the top of the bus

More bus views

Baños

So after the moto rental I headed to a little town called Baños, a few hours outside of Quito in the beautiful mountains at the base of a volcano.

This town literally runs on tourism so walking around every other shop is a tour company, massage shop, or cafe with English everywhere. Despite that, it was incredibly peaceful and had a nice laid back vibe and all the touristy shops were somehow okay and didn't bother me like they usually would...I dunno.

I walked up to a hostel, which was full, and then walked to another one where I found a couple travel buddies from the rainforest (I knew they were in town but didn't know which hostel exactly). We went out that night and met some locals, and I even switched shirts with one of them!

The next two days I went zip lining, bridge jumping, canyoning, atv renting, thermal bath soaking, and even got the best massage I've gotten for $30 for hour and a half!

The view driving in. Not bad

Baños is surrounded by this

One of the better views I've had from a hostel. You could even hear the waterfall perfectly

And not to mention hot springs at the base

Puenting!

San Francisco bridge, where you jump from. Notice the waterfalls in the background coming from under the houses!

The sketchiest atv ever, the tourist model. No front brake, no mirrors, 2 inches of suspension.. WTF

No gloves or goggles provided. Not even allowed to use the headlight due to weak battery...let's just say I'm happy to be well and in one piece

Only in South America (last drink). Didn't try it but pretty interesting..

Lowering myself down a waterfall pretty neat

The last fall getting lowered down!

Looking up!

Moto Adventures

My last day in Quito I decided to rent a motorcycle for a self-guided gps tour outside the city.

I ended up taking a overnight tour of the cloud forest, tropical rainforest, equator, and volcanic craters with almost half of the 117 miles on dirt.

I had too much fun. Never have I felt so free and in awe of my surroundings being on roads with virtually no cars traveling through the many different climates, but also being able to weave through and pass any car with ease!

I feel like I barely took photos because I was soaking up every second on the bike, but I think these will show the gist.

First stop, beautiful trail to waterfall.

This was probably the best trail I have been on in Latin America, with drainage and even switchbacks!!!

Refreshing myself after making it to the falls

Saw this rock with a rope attached, had to pull over and check it out.

View of locals fishing from the rock (probably trout)

Looking back at one of the last houses in the fishing village, beauty

Had to stop next to this huge gentle fall right next to the road

Soaking up the sun after being soaked for over an hour trying to escape the rain.

The Pululahua volcanic crater that is actually inhabited by people